Welcome to the 25th anniversary issue of Vintage Truck magazine AND our new look! The March/April 2017 issue of Vintage Truck magazine will be available in subscriber mailboxes and on newsstands soon. Our cover truck is a 1954 Chevrolet 3100—the final year for the popular Advance-Design model—that I photographed in China Grove, North Carolina. At the time, it was owned by Bobby Smith of Mocksville, North Carolina, who restored it and won many Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) awards with it. The Chevy is now on permanent display at the Keystone Truck & Tractor Museum in Colonial Heights, Virginia.

The construction and agricultural booms that followed the end of World War II would not have been possible without America’s fleet of light-, medium-, and heavy-duty trucks. Returning soldiers, seamen, and aviators needed houses to live in and roads and bridges to drive on. Every aspect of the country’s infrastructure had been neglected during the 1942–1945 conflict, and it was time to rebuild.

On May 1, 1947, Chevy introduced its new line of “Advance-Design” trucks as late-1947 models. The 3100 (half-ton), 3600 (3/4-ton), and 3800 (one-ton) light-duty trucks were known as Thrift-Masters. Load-Masters were rated at 1-1/2 or 2 tons. With a curvy exterior, cleanly integrated headlights, “alligator” hood, and five wide horizontal bars for a grille, Chevy signaled to customers that this was a leap ahead of its pre-war thinking. The modern Unisteel cab hid what was essentially a traditional, but reinforced, box-girder ladder frame with five cross members.

To read more about this beautifully restored Advance-Design pickup, pick up a copy of the March/April 2017 issue of Vintage Truck.